How a Shocking Act of Literary Vandalism Helped a Family Start Again A cache of family documents led a journalist to discover the source of the wealth that allowed his family to remake life in Australia after surviving World War II in Europe.

“I saw that as a parallel between my own family, who were given a second lease on life by the breakup of the Bible.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/b...

Opinion | There Is a Liberal Answer to Elon Musk Right-wing populism thrives on scarcity. The answer is abundance. But a politics of abundance will work only if Democrats confront where their approach has failed.

“Liberals spent a generation working, at every level of government and society, to make it harder to build recklessly. They excused their selfishness, putting yard signs out saying no human being is illegal, even as they fought affordable housing nearby.” www.nytimes.com/2025/03/09/o...

Commentary: Did AI really defend the KKK at the end of my column? Let's discuss Journalism schools teach that writers should report the news, not be the news.

“Journalists like to complain that critics of articles don’t read past the headline. Well, this was a case of journalists not reading past the first clause of a sentence.”

God bless Gustavo, who’s never afraid to tell his followers when they’re wrong. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Inside the Explosive Meeting Where Trump Officials Clashed With Elon Musk Simmering anger at the billionaire’s unchecked power spilled out in a remarkable Cabinet Room meeting. The president quickly moved to rein in Mr. Musk.

“The exchange ended with Trump telling Duffy he had to hire people from M.I.T. as air traffic controllers. These controllers need to be ‘geniuses,’ he said.”

Trump’s master plan revealed: Destroy the US economy so that MIT grads beg for air traffic controller jobs.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/u...

William R. Lucas, Official Blamed in Challenger Tragedy, Dies at 102 (Gift Article) The strong-willed director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, he failed to pass on warnings from engineers that the space shuttle launch was at risk.

I hope every business school hands this to aspiring managers with the suggestion they “lead people in a way that you don’t wind up with an obituary like this one.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/u...

The Trump World Order In the MAGA vision of the national interest, might will make right.

Great George Packer piece, just one in a strong @theatlantic.com collection. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

US Defense Department contract "inaccurately represented" on social media, says Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters said on Thursday its business with the Department of Defense was "inaccurately represented," in response to accusations on social media by Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump that the company played a role in "large scale social deception" for the government.

Amazing. Unit of Thomson Reuters is hired by DARPA to help test DEFENSES AGAINST “large scale social deception,” Trump & Musk turn it into a dark project to DEVELOP “large scale social deception.” www.reuters.com/business/us-...

Defense contractors are now the guy yelling into the bathroom mirror. x.com/stockmktnewz...

Are Gazans now eligible for the federal worker buyout?

Trump’s Crypto Venture Divides the Industry He Aims to Support The president’s promotion of a speculative digital coin left some crypto investors feeling blindsided, while others saw it as a gimmick that undermined the industry’s credibility.

“$Trump generated $58M in fees for the Trump family in less than a day. On paper, the family owns $23B of $Trump at its $29 price — already a 60% drop from the peak.”

Trump’s Crypto Venture Divides the Industry He Aims to Support www.nytimes.com/2025/01/25/u...

He Was Pushed in Front of a Subway Train. How Did He Survive? Joseph Lynskey was waiting for the subway in Manhattan last month when a random act of violence transformed his life.

"He has tried to avoid watching and rewatching the video of his being pushed — with limited success. When he opened TikTok two days after the attack, it was the first video the algorithm served him"

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/n...

What Elon Musk’s Salute Was All About (Gift Article) A gesture associated with the Nazis has a surprising history. But in Germany, there was little doubt about its meaning.

Attempts to whitewash Musk’s gesture run into the problem that, in the case of the “Roman salute,” it wasn’t even a thing until the facists adopted it, or, in the case of the “pledge salute,” it was dropped BECAUSE the facists had adopted it. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/w...

Trump Administration Live Updates: Immigration Policies, D.E.I. Office Closure and More

“The Trump team, concerned that career department employees will not execute orders they deem to be immoral or unlawful, has considered transferring or instigating disciplinary actions against prosecutors who refuse to comply with commands.” www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01...

Migrants waiting in Tijuana feel immediate sting of Trump’s border crackdown The initial blow came with the end of CBP One, stranding thousands of asylum seekers with and without appointments

“At the PedWest port of entry, asylum seekers who had 5 a.m. appointments through CBP One entered the U.S. as scheduled. But later, asylum seekers queued up in line with a 1 p.m. slot were notified via the app that their appointments had been canceled.” www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/01/20/m...

Analysis | Fact-checking President Trump’s 2025 inaugural address Trump relies on many claims debunked during the election campaign

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

‘The Interview’: Ambassador David Pressman Is Alarmed by What He Has Seen Ambassador David Pressman talks about his contentious relationship with Viktor Orban’s administration and why what happens in Hungary matters.

Controlling people “doesn’t take secret police. It doesn’t take guns. It doesn’t take gulags. If you have the ability to overwhelm the media ecosystem with lies, you make the cost of engaging in public debate so high that it becomes an existential one.” www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/m...

A House at Auschwitz Opens Its Doors to a Chilling Past The home of the death camp’s wartime commandant, Rudolf Höss, which was the subject of the Oscar-winning movie “The Zone of Interest,” will soon welcome visitors.

“‘A house is a house,” Purski said, looking out a window toward the chimney of a former Nazi crematory. ‘But it is in uninteresting, regular houses like this where extremism is happening today.’” www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/w...

Opinion | Mark Zuckerberg’s Macho Posturing Looks a Lot Like Cowardice Focus on what the Meta chief does, not what he says.

“What is the reward for boasting about your own toughness while charting your umpteenth cowardly zigzag in order to please the people in power? I guess we’re about to find out.” www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/o...

I would like to read a story about Senators who showed up to vote “totally sloshed” and had to be carried from the chamber (that’s what Hegseth is accused of, not sipping a wee dram). youtu.be/shtB18V4sAs?...

Matt Pearce | Substack Journalist. Union guy. May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house. Click to read Matt Pearce, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

“By supporting the labor of journalism rather than this or that business, you can support the vital work at legacy local newsrooms and Watch Duty places alike.”

Excellent piece. Zuck & Musk degrade working journalists to promote mythical citizen “creators.” mattdpearce.substack.com?utm_source=n...

Did Mayor Karen Bass really cut the fire department budget? The answer gets tricky Employee raises and other expenses are expanding the Los Angeles Fire Department's budget. At the same time, the agency has had to scale back operations in recent months.

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Palisades Lost Days after a devastating wildfire, residents of Pacific Palisades have started sifting through the ruins, and their memories.

“Armm parked his Tesla on PCH and walked up to help save his home and others, and rescue a neighbor’s puppy. When he returned, his car had gone up in flames, as had his condo. ‘We lost a condo and a car and saved a bunch of homes and a puppy. I think we’re doing OK.” www.nytimes.com/2025/01/12/u...

Inside Elon Musk’s Plan for DOGE to Slash Government Costs Mr. Musk has turned to Silicon Valley to help recruit executives who will take up unofficial positions across the federal government.

The “smartest people” who all “talk fast” and learned everything they need to know in 4 weeks about programs and services most of them never use. Can’t wait to see the recommendations.

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/12/u...

Inconvenient truths about the fires burning in Los Angeles from two fire experts For years, renowned fire experts Jack Cohen and Stephen Pyne have tried to shift the conversation on fire prevention strategies. This week’s destruction, they say, could have been minimized.

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Why hydrants ran dry as firefighters battled California's deadly fires Firefighters in Pacific Palisades and Altadena have repeatedly been hampered by low water pressure and dry hydrants, revealing limitations in local water systems designed to supply neighborhoods.

“Even if crews had more water, ‘with those wind gusts, we were not stopping that fire last night,’ a fire official said. ‘Those erratic wind gusts were throwing embers for multiple miles ahead of the fire, and that’s really what caused the rapid spread of the fire.’” www.latimes.com/environment/...

Opinion | The Tragedy of Joe Biden He didn’t get the credit he deserved on the economy.

“I have to think it’s especially painful for Biden that his party’s defeat in the presidential election was due at least partly to voters’ disappointment with the economy. In reality, Biden’s handling of the economy was good, if not great.”

The Tragedy of Joe Biden www.nytimes.com/2025/01/10/o...

This is amazing. Read all the way through the thread, it’s worth it.

What’s Behind Meta’s Makeover Ahead of Trump’s Second Term? (Gift Article) Mark Zuckerberg is positioning his company for a second Trump term — and revealing the hollow identity at its core.

“Zuckerberg changed his views on speech many times, usually in the direction of the prevailing political winds. Details of the latest changes (a laundry list of right-wing speech demands) and delivery (“Fox & Friends”) made clear what the real purpose was.” www.nytimes.com/2025/01/08/t...

Ailing Ex-Deputy Admitted to Killing Florida Store Clerk in 1979 Less than a year before his death, a former deputy with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office in Florida told detectives that he had fatally shot the clerk, a 25-year-old woman.

They had a confession and a witness but did nothing. The Charlotte County (Fla.) sheriff’s office chose to let this guy get away with murder for decades. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/04/u...